Golden Age Syndrome -The exaggerated belief that something (politics, news, morals, video games) used to be substantially better than it is now, expressed usually with bitterness about the present condition.

~Urban Dictionary

Looking Back

Looking back in time and reliving old memories is often a sudden emotional rush that occurs in every human. The tendency to compare newer with older stuffs and contemplating on the glory of yesteryear always come as an overwhelming experience. I don’t hold any grudges against current generation, but there are loads of thing from the past I’ll never fall short in romanticizing with. I guess, that’s what they call, “Nostalgia.”

My entire childhood, those innocent days, was invested in watching TV shows, playing SEGA Games and visiting wilder and unknown places. Back in 90s’, I was madly in love with my Television. We din’t have commercial internet back then nor cell phones!

I tend to suffer from Golden Age Syndrome more or less “Nostalgia” every now and then. I love 90s’. if I get a chance I’d love to relive it again! I romanticize that precious decade. I miss those days when we’re intentionally mischief, avoided eating green vegetables, talked about ghosts and spirits all night long, relished on chocolates and cared none about personal hygiene. it’s the time when we loved watching Cartoons and imitated the likes of He-Man, Captain Planet and so on.

#1 Signing off an Auto-book was one way of keeping personal records of friends in schools and colleges back then. It was pandemic. Everyone in the class used to own an auto-book and every other friend used to write something on it. Undoubtedly, everyone used to write about mundane things they loved most; Films, actors, singers, albums with personal picture intact in every profile.”

#2 I used to explore newer and wilder landscapes with my cousins. We used to dwell at places our parents prevented us from. We loved playing Sega games, traversing unknown part of the city and building imaginary world of our own.

#3 Even before htting puberty, I always wondered what it felt like experiencing adult Nudity, talking Profanity or SEX in general, the things my parents avoided whenever i’s around. Undoubtedly, the first experience of such things always come as a Shock!! I was novice to contemplate on such emotions, but movies like Preety Woman, American Pie and American Beauty helped me a lot to ease my primary confusions, later which became the building blocks of adulthood! :D

Advent of MTV Generation in Indian Subcontinent

The thing which surely can’t be missed about 90s’ is MTV (Music Television). The whole generation of music awakening and crazy fashion trends that entered during 90s’ in Indian subcontinent, which was still a decade later to those glitzy MTV generations of North America and Europe. In local scene, 90s’ bought the newest and unique talents in music industry, and MTV provided’em with a concrete platform. The advent of pop culture in Indian subcontinent marks the prominent move westwards. The affluence of great music coming from Nazia Hassan, along with budding singers like Shaan, Sonu Nigam, Suchitra Krishnamoorthi, Lucky Ali, Babul Supriyo and Alisha Chennoi etc made the whole continent jive in cooler beats.

It’d be hard to find people who grew up in 90s’ and haven’t heard cool-ish tracks like “O Sanam -Luckly Ali,”“Tanha dil -Shaan,”“Lover Girl Alisha” and “Dole Dole -Suchitra.” I did! They played’em in every major Radio stations back then. MTV was flooded with new artists. Cheap posters and postcards of Actors and Music Sensations were pandemic in stores, those days. The international musicians who ruled this particular decade were Michael Jackson, Madonna, Backstreet Boyz, Venga Boys and so on. Adding rap in a song became prevalent during 90s’.

MTV gave birth to new trend and lifestyle among youngsters, mostly school and college kids. Archies’ Cards back then were selling like hot piece of cake. The celebrations of Valentines Day became dramatic. Expression of love, buying gifts for the loved one and party culture ended up becoming viral.

Still fresh and young, I encountered a cooler way of greeting Friendship day or Valentines’ to friends. Fast food restaurants and cafes with cooler themes became second-home for youngsters. Archies’ cards, VCRs, Radio FMs and Cassettes were religious aspects of daily life. We ate MTV, we slept MTV and we wept MTV!!

I grew up in a culture where my uncle was totally into Guns n’ Roses, my siblings were into MJ, Madonna and Hindi Pop sensations, and I was into Cartoons. I used to wake up watching MTV, eat breakfast with Cartoon Network, do homework with Star Plus TV(the cooler and western version) and sleep with Star World TV.

After coloring my life with glamour and glitz of television, I completely forgot about life that existed outside TV. But I still consider it was Fun!

I find watching MTV back in 90s’ way cooler than today, because it was unknown to commercial-ish programs filled with the story about lives of stupid celebrities or wannabes’.

Check out Cool MTV IDs (From 80s’ to 90s’)

Cheesy Movies

The English movies like Twister, Jumanji, Titanic, Terminator, Home Alone and The Lion King were selling like hot cake back then and Indian movies; DDLJ, Hum Apke Hein kaun and such took away the local audiences. It gave new meanings of expressing love and established newer ground for testing emotions. Everything in life of a young guy back then started to feel like a typecast of either Raj from DDLJ, Rahul from Dil to Pagal Hein or Prem of Hum Apke Hain Kaun. Movies back then were reel version of a liberated life every youngster desired.

#1 I personally enjoyed watching English movies with my cousins and siblings in a group. We used to turn the lights off, close down all the curtains, put on VCR cassettes and watch films like; Terminator, Jumanzi and Twister. The Oohs.. and Aahs.. and foretelling of possible plots or scenes came out at almost every turn of the film.

#2 For the first time, I experienced almost 20 people crying at a same time during a certain movie scene. Year 1997, the whole crashing and diving of Titanic ship and Leonardo dying at the middle of an ocean made my whole family go frantic and cry at very same moment. Back then, we used to get two different VCRs for a single lengthy film, and “Titanic” was one of it.